Every once in a while the cellar will give up a tobacco of a very special character. McCranie's searches out this quality, aged tobacco to produce unique smoking pleasures that will become limited edition entries in the Cellar's Choice series. Enjoy.

Another winner from McCranie, although in limited supply. The Syrian latakia used in this blend is from an old batch that was aged over 10 years. The latakia is not particularly smokey. The blend has just a hint of a natural sweetness that I find to be a nice change of pace. The flavor changes as you go down the bowl to emphsize that characteristic.

Cellar's choice is a limited edition that is very good, though somewhat pricey at around $12 for 50 gr. While this will not be a daily smoke, it fits in nicely as a change of pace. I have already bought 5 cans and I will probably buy 15 more since I believe McCranies has a 20 can customer limit.

I don't know why I am reviewing this tobacco except to add a voice to the negative reviews. It is my wish that more of this tobacco would be tinned. It is delicious. Probably if there were more Syrian Latakia, there could be more of this, the fact that Syrian is rare this tobacco will probably be no more.

I opened the last tin in my cellar a few weeks ago, it is marked 270 of 650. This tobacco is sweet, mellow and wonderful. If you get a chance to try some of it, don't pass it up. This is a very satisfying smoke. It delivers the Latakia experience better than anything I know of including the current Dunhill blends. If they actually had this in steady supply it would be a boon to the Full English smoker. Now that I am at the bottom of the bowl, it has changed to a sort of creamy finish that has been consistently sweet and full bodied all the way to here, only changing at the end, and that, sorrowfully, is because I am about to the end of the smoke. This is a wonderful Full English and I give it my strongest recommendation.

I found this blend particularly smooth and complex. It definitely changes character as you smoke it down the bowl. It starts out mellow and unassuming but builds to a wonderful symphony of flavor. It gives no tongue-bite whatsoever and the syrian latakia has been well blended with the virginia and oriental leaves so that each component supports the overall smokiness of this blend. This is definitely a special occassion smoke. I purchased two tins. One for reviewing and one for the cellar. I look forward to enjoying this blend in the months to come. We are definitely blessed to have so many excellent blends available to us in the good ol USA. Update: 02-19-04 After finishing my 2nd and last tin, I have to say "the emperor has no clothes!". I now realize that the Latakia in this blend was over aged and lost too much of its flavor leaving this blend too bland for my taste.There are many blends available that surpass the flavor and quality of this blend. Let us wait in hope and see what suprises come out from McCranie's Cellar in the future. Rating 3 out of 5 points.

I read the reviews of this blend a while back. It sounded so good, I dashed off to McCranie's web site and ordered two tins. Well my first few smokes were honestly disapointing. I guess I had expected more.

But I have to say that now, about two thirds of the way through the first tin, I am very satisfied with the blend. It has to be one of the smoothest english blends I've ever smoked. The Latakia is rich and mellow. The Virginias add a bright sweet note, and every now and again the orientals pop up. Its very well balanced, although I'd prefer a bit stronger showing from the orientals.

This is a straight English blend, easy to pack, fairly cool, and steady burning. Latakia is dominant.

Unique in that there is a fair amount of latakia in the mix (don't know %) but it is not that heavy and is unusually smooth. It only gets a little spicy near the finish, not harsh. That smoothness must be due to the age of the central theme - latakia - and that fact that it's Syrian Latakia, which is not supposed to be as heavy as Cyprian. But no doubt, this has substantial amount of latakia for sure.

The mix has a base of red virginia and probably some oriental, but no perique I'm told. The latakia stands out as the central flavor - a dark, smoky, scenty taste, but nowhere near a heavy latakia blend like Nigthcap. Still, you do need to really like latakia to like this blend, but again it is not as strong as the ingredients, if less aged, could push it to. Still on the full side of flavor.

The aroma is not really that heavy either, and it was described to be as a "chimney scent". When I walk back into an area I 've smoke it in after passage of a few minutes, that does appear to be an accurate description.

I do like this and purchased a few tins for cellaring, but it does not need any more aging. It's just a special blend I will smoke on a few future occasions. It's probably close to gone, and thanks to MCCrainies for developing this series.

Another winner from McCranie's! This is a wonderful latakia blend. The Syrian leaf in it is purported to be 13 years old. However old it is, it's high quality stuff. This is an extremely smooth tobacco with a smoky sweet flavor. The sweetness is all virginia here- no casing whatsoever. The orientals remain very subdued- a good supporting cast for the star of the show: Syrian Latakia. This tobacco isn't extremely complex, but is so rich it never gets boring. This stuff is even smoother and gentler than the legendary Frog Morton, and has a better sweetness and flavor than My Mixture 965. If it wasn't in such limited supply and the price was a bit lower, this stuff would be an everyday smoke. Since it is pricey though and they will probably run out of it in record time, I will only smoke it on special occassions. Since the tin is vacuum sealed they should age just fine. The tin I am smoking out of is #136 out of 650, and they only started selling it a few weeks ago. The McCranie Brothers deserve high praise for this blend and for finding this delectable crop of, IMHO, the finest leaf available.